When He Comes
In the crazy world in which we live,
I’m very blessed to be able to say I had a wonderful childhood. I remember on summer evenings after dinner,
running out to meet the ice cream man at the sound of the music coming through
the speakers on his truck. My sisters
and I would study the pictures of the ice cream novelties posted on the side of
the van and make our selections. Red,
white, and blue rocket pops were a favorite, but my usual was a Bugs Bunny ice
cream bar with a pink bubblegum ball for its nose. I remember my mom helping me open its package
after she had paid the man, and I can still recall how refreshing the coldness
of the ice cream was on a hot Georgian evening and the joy it brought me as we
ate our treats on the driveway, the dripping ice cream or popsicle juice
leaving sticky puddles on the concrete while early fireflies danced in the
twilight shadows of the trees in our front yard.
As a young girl, my dream occupation
someday was to drive an ice cream truck and bring as much joy to other kids as
the ice cream man brought to me. At our
old church, the Wednesday night children’s program participated in an annual
pinewood derby race, in which I competed three consecutive years. The last car my dad and I ever built was an
ice cream truck when I was nine years old, and it won an award for being the
best looking car in its class. With all that
said, the ice cream man is associated with very happy memories for me.
Just before my eighth birthday, my
family moved into the house in which we live now, and in our new neighborhood,
the ice cream man seldom came. In fact,
it’s been years since the ice cream truck has made our street apart of its
route. But last week, I was inside
toward the back of our house when a very faint sound reached my ears. It came barely audible at first and very
far-off, but I knew the sound. The sweet
strains of music. I listened as the
sound grew louder and nearer, and then suddenly, compelled by I don’t what, I eagerly
ran into my bedroom to the window facing the front yard. The music coming was loud now, and as I
watched in anticipation, I expected to see the familiar ice cream truck drive
down our street at any moment… but it never came. Slowly the strains of the music grew weaker
and more distance… until they faded completely and all was silent. As I listened to the air grow still again
without the happy sound, I felt an indescribable sense of disappointment deep
within my core. A sense of loss. It was as though my childhood had returned for
one rapturous moment and had slowly faded away again with the music. I had missed my glimpse of the so-loved ice
cream truck and the memories it holds for me.
As I reluctantly turned away from
the window in regret at my lost opportunity, I felt the Lord illustrating to me
another lesson using a most unusual comparison.
We anticipate Christ’s second coming.
We talk about it and it brings us joy to think of it. But I wonder, on that day, how many of us
will run to the window too late. Will we
be too preoccupied with the temporal things of this earth to run out to meet
him?
I was reminded of one of the parables
that Jesus told His disciples on the Mount of Olives when they asked Him about
His second coming and the end of the age: “At that time the kingdom of heaven
will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. The foolish ones
took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along
with their lamps. The bridegroom was a
long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“At midnight the cry rang out:
‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet
him!’
“Then all the virgins woke up and
trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones
said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not
be enough for both us and you. Instead,
go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
“But while they were on their way to
buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The
virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
“Later the others also came. ‘Sir!
Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door
for us!’
“But he replied, ‘I tell you the
truth, I don’t know you.’” (Mt 25:1-12) Can
you just imagine what it would feel like to hear the Lord speak those words to
you? “I don’t know you.” I cannot even fathom what the five virgins would’ve
felt in that moment of the story.
The ice cream man came at an
unexpected time. He hadn’t come in
years, much less in the middle of February on a wintery cold day. It was about noon and all the children were
in school. No one expected him to come
then, nor does anyone know when Christ will return. The Bible says that “no one knows about that
day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
(Mt 24:36) “Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” I don’t know about you, but when the trumpet
sounds on that day just as the strains of music from the truck reached my ears,
I wanna be at the window ready to run out to meet Him. Friends, the day in which we live is not the
time to become preoccupied with the materialistic endeavors and pursuits around
us and forget to bring along our oil because of it. I missed my chance to see the familiar ice
cream truck, but let’s not be too late to respond to the Lord’s calling and
revelation through the signs of the times in the world around us. Let’s be ready to meet Him when He comes.
“Therefore
keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Matthew
25:13
~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,”
but heart-chords? I was struggling to
decide what to name my blog. I wanted it
to be a name that was both creative and meaningful. As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic
guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts-
our lives- are instruments. They are
constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own
decisions. They can play a melody for
praise or for entertainment. A musician
selects his songs according to his audience.
So do we. Whether our audience is
the world or the Lord, our song will be different. This blog is designed to first, increase my
awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share
the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of
praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.
Music is a powerful tool. Use it
for His glory. “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of
praise to our God. Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3
I remember those memories of the icecream man too. Good times and a great comparison!
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